Nottingham Shopping Trip - Dec 09
I didnt realise how far away Nottingham was from Milton Keynes, my geography is terrible. So after a random comfort stop we arrived in Nottingham an hour and half after we left. Its always lovely to arrive early before the madness starts of any day. The sun was shining but it was bitter, the ice rink glistening in the cold sun. Yes you read that right a massive ice rink at the side of the main street. It was lovely, mums and dads and kids of all ages donned their loose skates and had a great time. You could hear the squeals (I presumed not from falling over) of delight half way up the high street.
The Christmas markets were a little disappointing, I think the novelty has spread itself thin and I mean literally. Maybe the theme of these events need to be changed once in a while. At first I thought maybe the markets were spread out through the winding streets in order to attract visitors elsewhere but unfortunately not. Compared to Birmingham the year before this was small, only a dozen stalls lined the street and then we found out that the same markets stalls were in at least 6 other towns including back in Milton Keynes. Although still very atmospheric the local minister drowned out any live music with their sermon on what Christmas should mean to shoppers.
However we strolled further out of town and made a point of avoiding the larger chains and looking for the more unique side to Notthingham. I have to say its very pretty, hidden doorways lead to intrigue and leave you guessing as to whats behind them, some however led to little courtyards to peoples house and other to shops. It was lovely to see. I asked one of our travelers as to what they thought of their day, heres her comments:
Travelers Tales:
“I really enjoyed my recent trip to Nottingham with the OU Club. The coach journey was very quick and we was soon in Nottingham.
We took the opportunity to enjoy both the historical side of Nottingham and do some shopping too. The informative map given to us on the coach made it very easy to find our way around the city.
We did a tour of the underground caves at Nottingham Castle at first which was brilliant and had a fantastic guide. We then visited Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem which is supposed to be the oldest inn in England built into the rock on which the castle is situated. The inn was fascinating - each bar is a cave and they did fantastic food! Our next stop was the Castle which is now a museum and very interesting. We then made our way to the Christmas Market with lots of interesting stalls and watched the people ice skating. It was very buzzy and felt very Christmassey! After this we had a spot of lunch and then made our way to the shopping centre for an hour or so before retiring to the coach for our homeward journey.
It was a really lovely day and so pleased I visited Nottingham centre as we have often been near or around it but never actually gone into the centre and probably wouldn’t have if the OU had not put on this amazing trip.”
CLOTHES SHOW LIVE - Birmingham 09
I went the to Clothes show (http://www.clothesshowlive.com/) about 10 years ago, it was amazing. Long legged wanna be models walked around like preening flamingos. Scouts popped up accosted people like magic genes. Music thumped through every vein and the eyes went wild as they took in the amazing stalls of colour and hive of activity. It was an exciting place to be, new talent shone through like a beacon of light, designers you’d never heard of were praised for originality and flare. I spent a fortune, I bought clothes, crazy hats, more clothes you name I had it. It was the most exciting thing I’d ever done.
This year however was completely different, I came back with a £1.00 glitter eyeliner - wahooo. I don’t love Edward (http://www.twilightthemovie.com/). I’m not a size 8, I’m not high street tramp, I don’t wear short skirts, I’m not into grunge and i don’t buy fakes!*
It was the most boring clinical place i’ve every been too. Repetative stands lined side by side, top named stores were there selling the same item to everyone that dared to have a look. I paid £25.00 (standard ticket,£39.00 platinum) to get in when I could have saved that and spent it in my local shopping centre.
The only saving grace was the fashion show, it was full of energetic, good look, half naked people dancing and prancing on the catwalk - what they were wearing I have no idea!! (I have to admit I was distracted by the sheen of baby oil). Even the colleges that were recruiting were stuffed in a corner, which I only discovered by chance! That’s it guys hide the future in a corner in case we don’t like it!!
Where has the creativity gone? Why are we dictated to as to what we will wear? What has happend to those crazy youth of long ago that didnt want to look like their friends and wanted to have some fun with fashion?
If I hear one more designer say “we don’t make clothes for anyone bigger than a 10” I’ll scream !! WHY NOT? your supposed to be a designer - your supposed to be clever and creative, well go on then PROVE IT! ……. OK so now i go into my rant about fashion sizes in the high street but that’s for another time and another place!!
Well for those that went - I know they had a great time so we will be running this trip again - but once every two years is enough for me.
*possibly fake perfumes were being sold, if you cant buy that size in the high street shops there must be a reason - it also had tester on the bottom of the bottle, he had a heck of a lot of stock to be legit!
